Training camp recap, Day 4

Kyler Murray shined in the first day with fans in attendance

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By Matthew Coller

What I heard

Kyler Murray throwing downfield

During the first two days of camp, it was notable how often Kyler Murray showed a willingness to push the football down the field. Thursday’s practice saw him hit several shots, including a 45(ish)-yard bomb to Dontae Fleming. He also missed one of Justin Jefferson’s fingertips on the first day.

I asked O’Connell whether it was planned to have Murray take a lot of downfield reps or if things just played out that way based on the calls.

“I think a lot of it is how the plays come and what defense is scripted. We are really just in the early stages….it’s still early enough that it’s hard to pinpoint any tendencies. At the same time, seeing him do that and hitting some of those downfield throws even into some of Flo’s exotic looks was encouraging.”’

While the universe wants to competition to be decided within the first couple days, we really won’t be able to identify trends until pads come on and the intensity of the practices increase.

Caleb Banks is good to go

One of the positive early developments of camp is that Caleb Banks has been involved with the first and second team, getting a handful of reps each day.

“He’s definitely full-go,” O’Connell said. “We have a mindset about what that looks like because it has been a good chunk since he’s played football. We’re building up those reps. He will get a little more today but we are being really purposeful with the fact that he’s in there with the first group and with the full compliment of calls that Flo has that day.”

Banks is recovering from a foot injury that he suffered at the NFL Combine. He also missed the majority of the 2025 college season with a similar injury so he hasn’t played a full football season since 2024 with Florida.

O’Connell said that the plus with Banks is that, even though he missed the OTA and minicamp periods on the field, he was still able to do a lot of learning in the classroom.

“One of the things that I was impressed by in the spring is his ability to retain information without physically get to apply them,” O’Connell said. “How he handled walk-through, how he handled the meeting room.”

The Vikings need Banks’ presence up front along with rookie third-round pick Domonique Orange because they lost Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen in the offseason. O’Connell noted that the two rookies are already building a bond.

“It’s been cool seeing the connection that him and Big Citrus [Orange] have, if you see one then you probably see the other,” O’Connell said. “That’s exactly what you’re looking for when you bring in two young guys like that.”

Next step for Jordan Mason and the run game

Last season, Jordan Mason was a qulity runner for the Vikings, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and ranking in the top-15 in terms of yards after contact. Aiming to take his game to the next level, Mason entered camp looking slimmed down, which was confirmed by OC Wes Phillips. O’Connell said that taking another step with his body was key for him this offseason.

“You guys can probably tell by the way he looks, he’s in unbelievable shape right now,” O’Connell said. “He’s already made a few cuts and a few runs that have demonstrated a comfort and a guy that’s prepared and ready to go. I’m excited about Jordan Mason.”

Mason isn’t alone in the backfield in terms of guys that the Vikings feel good about coming into training camp. Demond Claiborne has also stood out because of his quickness and agility.

“His explosiveness was all over the tape and you guys have probably seen it early on with some things either in space or his ability to hit the run where we want him to go and what he’s able to do off that,” O’Connell said.

“I think having a guy like Aaron Jones in the room is such a huge thing for him,” O’Connell added.

The run game overall has been a topic that O’Connell has brought up in multiple interviews and press conferences during the spring as something he’s encouraged about. The team made additions to the coaching staff and KOC described what he is looking for in terms of improvement.

“This year it really has been about, ‘what does it look like when we call some of these plays and you stand at the line of scrimmage and no matter what the concept is, are we playing on the opponent’s side? Are we getting off the ball and getting into combinations at the point of attack and having true synced up identity?”

Christian Darrisaw noted his excitement about the new run scheme earlier in the week and KOC mentioned that defensive players have taken notice as well.

“Our guys up front are really excited about it,” O’Connell said. “Even more so the conversations with an Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman or Jalen Redmond or Josh Metellus who say, ‘this feels a little different.’”

Golday on his role

Linebacker Jake Golday played some outside linebacker and battled a ball in the air that got intercepted by Blake Cashman on Saturday. He worked all summer at both ILB and OLB positions during his preparation for playing a potentially versatile role with the Vikings.

“They told me first thing when I got here that they wanted me to be versatile and be able to play a lot of things, that’s how I’m going to get on the field,” Golday said after practice. “So I didn’t take that lightly. I took that opportunity to study pretty much every single backer position. So when the time come, I played Will all spring. Then when I came out here in fall camp, they were saying, I want you to play some Sam. I was ready for the job because I’d been studying over the break and throughout spring the whole time. I want to know every position so that I can stay out there as much as possible.”

We will be watching closely if he plays more OLB when the pads come on. He had been exclusively at ILB before Saturday.

Charles Demmings is one motivated cornerback

With a bevy of first-team reps on Saturday, Demmings showed athleticism and physical play.

After practice, he made it clear how intense he’s going to be every day. When he was asked about getting a chance to play against the best receiver on earth Justin Jefferson, he said that he views every receiver as “nameless, faceless receiver” and doesn’t think at all about the WR’s accomplishments when he’s facing off.

In terms of his approach to practices and the intensity that he wants to bring, Demmings said:

“Coming out here right now, I treated it like it was the Super Bowl. Because I don’t want to get into a Super Bowl or get into preseason versus the Giants or week one versus the Packers for it to be that [intense]. When I’m out here, ‘OK, we playing the Giants this rep. Okay, we’re playing the Packers this rep. Okay, now we’re in the Super Bowl this rep. How am I going to combat? How am I going to gauge this bad rep and turn it into a great play this next rep?’”

Demmings said that he has adopted the mentality of his defensive coordinator when it comes to pushing himself to the max.

“That’s the thing about Brian Flores,” the young corner said. “He only has one standard, and he doesn’t shy away from it. He holds everyone to the same standard. And so that not only pushes the team, but pushes us individually to hold each other up to that same standard, man.”

What I saw

The quarterback competition took an interesting turn as Kyler Murray had an outstanding showing and JJ McCarthy struggled.

Here’s how the two quarterbacks performed in terms of completions and the share of positive and negative throws.

Here is a map of where Murray’s throws went on Saturday: